To prune all you havta do is take some hedge trimmers to it and shape it, very hardy bush, looks very healthy in the picture, you can tell because it is in full bloom and looks very full. Just take the hedge trimmers to it shape it, I would wait til the flowers fall off though.

That would be shearing it. I would not do that, an azalea does not look right pruned into a ball. I would take a pair of shears and selectively cut some branches to cut it back, but maintain its natural appearance. It is a healthy bush though.

That would be shearing it. I would not do that, an azalea does not look right pruned into a ball. I would take a pair of shears and selectively cut some branches to cut it back, but maintain its natural appearance. It is a healthy bush though.

That would be shearing it. I would not do that, an azalea does not look right pruned into a ball. I would take a pair of shears and selectively cut some branches to cut it back, but maintain its natural appearance. It is a healthy bush though.

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Well, after Jmurphy, I would THIRD that! Selective pruning only. Like said above, this means using a pair of hand clippers and pruning one branch at a time. But don't cut at indiscriminate points along branches. Always cut azalea branches back to a joint. Azaleas have a distinctive branching pattern in that they will send out 3 or more branches at one point, all growing relatively the same rate until one branch eventually assumes dominance and elongates past the others. Then at some point, that branch will in turn send out three or more branches at it's tip. And so on. If you prune the longer portions of the bush back into the canopy of the bush and at all times to a joint, the bush will not look like it was pruned, yet will be magically smaller. And you won't create maintenance nightmares that can ensue after shearing.

Two rules to always follow...prune crossing branches, prune the dead wood....then selectively cut back to a specific node depending upon the direction you desire the new growth...then dead head any spent growth. Shearing though doable is not what a trained horticulturalist would do